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June 29, 2006
Time flies
I've been so busy with life that I've let an entire week go by without posting! It may also have something to do with my going to bed a bit earlier these days since I'm still sticking to my Monday-Friday 6am gym date. Yay! And tomorrow is Friday! If I go to the gym every day during the week then I reward myself on Fridays with a trip to Starbucks for a (non-fat, no-whip) mocha. Yum! I'm also excited about tomorrow because it will be my last day of work until next Wednesday! Wahoo! Four-day weekends ROCK! Wahoo!
And I will have you know that I have been knitting a lot lately! I have no pics to show you of Hourglass because Sleeve Island is a pretty boring, non-photogenic place to be. But I will tell you that the first sleeve is finished and attached to the sweater and I am working on the second sleeve now! And I worked a little bit on the Entrelac Scarf over the weekend and also... Butterfly! I'll give you a minute on that one. Have you recovered from the shock? It has been a while since I've worked on it. Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I made a ton of progress on it but I did do a few more repeats on the lace frill. I'm taking it one repeat at a time and eventually I will see the end of those damn frills! Also I did detour a bit from my regular projects. I needed a quick project to make me feel like I was accomplishing something! Scarves are good for that...
Pattern: Child's Rainbow Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (for my inner child)
Started: June 23, 2006
Finished: June 26, 2006
Yarn: Noro Kureyon #87 and #164 (1 skein of each)
Needles: US 9
Size: one size
This was a really fun and quick knit! I could have probably made it in an evening free of interruptions (who has those?). I was a bit scared of the colors I had chosen. I was afraid that they wouldn't go well together. But I think they did ok! I like the final product. But one of my skeins of yarn ran out a good bit before the other one did. I didn't want to fool with trying to get another one shipped to me or anything so it's a shorter scarf than I would usually make but I do like it. I would definitely make one of these again with different colors of Kureyon (or maybe some Silk Garden). It would make a great gift! And I just love mistake rib for scarves because both sides are identical! And the color changing and stripey effects in this pattern keep you interested enough that you don't easily tire from all of the ribbing. For those of you who don't have the book, the pattern for this scarf is online here.
I also got pics of our Stitch 'n Bitch group from Page (our personal barrista as she calls herself). These were taken by Page on June 10, Worldwide Knit in Public Day! Yay! Thanks, Page! Thanks, House Coffee!
I will leave you with a funny warning I found on a jar of peanuts we bought from Target...
Attention peanut allergy sufferers! Do NOT eat this jar of peanuts! It contains PEANUTS!
Oy vey...
Posted by allison at 06:53 PM | Comments (1)
June 20, 2006
Froggy went a courtin'
Well, it sure was refreshing to read the comments to my last post. It's always a nice feeling to know that when you're going through something tough, there are others going through it, too! I've been very good with my workouts! I was at the gym at 6am M-F of last week and so far so good this week, too! Saturdays and Sundays are my only "sleep-in" days. And it's really not bad at all! I think my body is adjusting. And on a day like today I am so glad that I got my exercise out of the way in the morning. It's so hot here! And unbearably humid. Yuck-o.
As for knitting, I'm still doing it! But I have no pics to show. I'm still working on the sleeves for Hourglass and well, that doesn't really make for interesting knitting pictures. But I don't want to disappoint! I do have pictures!
Look what we found in the yard! Click on the pictures to make them bigger.
That is the biggest bullfrog I’ve ever seen. I had to put a quarter next to him for scale. He was very patient with me during the photo shoot. I went online to learn more about him. I read they'll eat anything they can fit in their mouths and I believe it! (Of course, who am I to judge? I do the same thing. And on occasion I’ve been known to eat things that don’t fit in my mouth. But I digress…) I find it strangely coincidental that he showed up the day after my neighborhood was blanketed with fliers about a missing dog. Hmmmmmm… Anyway, he showed up on Thursday and left sometime Saturday night. We haven't seen him since. I hope he's ok! Of course, judging by his size, he can obviously take care of himself. Isn't he the cutest?
Posted by allison at 08:00 PM | Comments (2)
June 15, 2006
I’m taking action
WARNING: this post contains no knitting content so if you’re just here for the knitting, move along. Those wanting a glimpse into my psyche, read on…
You see, growing up I never had to watch what I ate. I never had to exercise. I would’ve rather read a book than played a sport. I was more of the creative, artsy type. Not sporty. And thankfully I had a metabolism that supported that lifestyle or else I would’ve been 400 pounds by the age of 18. It was nice going off to college and not having to worry about the “freshman 15” because well, I just didn’t gain weight! Lucky me.
Unfortunately my luck has run out. Over the last few years my metabolism has slowed to a crawl and my weight has been creeping up and up and up. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I consider myself “fat” and anyone passing me on the street would probably not put me in the “weight problem” category but I’m just not comfortable in my own skin these days. I have a closet full of size 2 clothes that I refuse to give away because they are perfectly fine clothes and I want to wear them again!
My “luck” growing up has slapped me in the face and left me ill-equipped to deal with my current situation. I’m having to learn to eat better and learn to exercise. Exercise does not come naturally to me. Most of my life was spent not having to fit it into my day and now adjusting to it is difficult!
Fortunately and unfortunately I married a man who is a natural athlete. I say fortunately because well, he’s nice on the eyes and I’m counting on his athleticism to keep him around to a ripe old age. I say unfortunately because he has absolutely no clue what I’m going through right now. He can’t relate and it drives me crazy because the look in his eyes is almost that of disappointment and it just kills me. It all just comes so easily to him and he can’t understand why it doesn’t for me. He always dated athletic, active women and that is a label I’m not very familiar with.
So I’m taking action. I’ve discovered that when I get home from work the last thing I feel like doing is exercising. I’m exhausted already from working all day! This is why so many past exercise plans have fallen by the wayside. So I'm trying to do my (now required) exercising first thing in the morning so that when I get home from work I don’t even have to worry about it. So far it’s been great! I’ve been up at 5:30 every morning this week and at the gym by 6 for 30+ minutes on the elliptical trainer. I’ve found that I have a lot more energy during the day and it’s nice to feel like I’ve accomplished something before many people have even gotten out of bed.
And man I love the stillness of the early morning. Very few cars on the streets. Birds singing. Everything calm and still. It’s nice to have that time for myself. That time to think about anything I want. And yes it’s HARD to get my ass out of bed that early and leave the warmth of a still-sleeping husband. And every morning I do think about just staying in bed but I can’t. I just don’t have that choice anymore and I have to get used to that.
I really hope that the weight starts to come off. I’m scared to weigh myself for fear that the number will not have changed (or will have changed for the worse) and I would lose my motivation. So the scale sits in the corner of my bathroom taunting me. Hopefully it will become more of a friend than foe in the coming weeks.
My biggest problem is that I’ve noticed a change in my personality over the past few years. From a bubbly, outgoing and independent person to someone who is cranky, introverted and dependent on others. I hate it. I think a lot of it has to do with my physical appearance (and a lot has to do with a situation four years ago that’s a story for another day). I just want to get back to the “old me.”
So wish me luck as I embark on this new chapter of my life. I want (and need) for these to be lifelong changes.
I’ll be back soon with knitting content. I think I’m setting up permanent residence on Sleeve Island.
Posted by allison at 11:48 AM | Comments (7)
June 12, 2006
Sleeve Island
Well, I am now on Sleeve Island. And I'm perfectly happy to be here because being on Sleeve Island means that I finished the friggin' body of Hourglass! I thought it couldn't be done! I thought that I would be celebrating my 70th birthday by knitting just a few more rows! I was almost convinced that little knitting gnomes were breaking into my house at night and unraveling any knitting I had accomplished that day (and then some)! But alas, the day came when I pulled out my measuring tape and I was there. I couldn't believe my eyes. Pure knitting bliss. It's true that the sweater seems to go much faster once you reach the sleeves. I think it's because you can knit and knit and knit and actually see progress! Amazing! I don't want to deter anyone from making Hourglass. It really isn't that bad. In fact, it's perfect for television knitting. But I would definitely recommend other projects on the needles to break up the monotony. It's funny, my friend Sara pointed out to me that this did not seem to be a "last minute knitted gift" as the book would lead you to believe. They did label it correctly by placing it in the "more-than-eight-hour gifts" chapter. It's definitely more than 8 hours of knitting. It's a "more-than-eight-weeks" project for me. But I think it will look great and it is definitely worth the miles and miles of stockinette.
I got a lot of knitting done on Saturday at our Stitch 'n Bitch. It was Worldwide Knit in Public Day and my group celebrated by doing what we do every couple of weeks and met up at a local coffee shop (House Coffee) and knit to our heart's content. We had a great turnout with some new faces! Of course, being the brilliant group leader and blogger that I am, I left my digital camera at home! Argh! But one of the employees there asked us if she could take some pictures of us and I asked her to email them to me so if she does, I'll have pics to commemorate the event! I thanked her on behalf of the group for being so welcoming and accommodating to us and she said "No problem! We love you guys!" Wow! How nice! When I go I try to keep myself to a two drink minimum to say "thanks" in a monetary way. Thanks, House Coffee!
And thanks to all of you for the well-wishes and anti-phlegm vibes! I think they worked! I'm back 100% and it feels great! My knitting mojo is back in full force.
Posted by allison at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)
June 06, 2006
WIP 'em out
Have I let a week go by again without posting? It appears I have. I feel like I'm playing "catch-up" with my life right now since I did practically nothing in May except produce copious amounts of phelgm. For those interested (and I know you are), my phlegm production has dropped considerably and I feel like I'm slowing getting my head above water again.
Because of the game of "catch-up" I've been playing, my dear knitting time has suffered. In fact the only thing I've touched in the past couple of weeks is Hourglass. A little here. A little there.
In catching up on everyone's blogs I am itching to finish things. Finish them I say! So I'm going to bring out a few Works In Progress to show you that a) they really do exist and b) they weren't dragged off by a pack of wild dogs.
We'll start with Hourglass.
For those of you who have knitted Hourglass, does it ever end?! I mean I see you modeling your "finished" sweaters on your blogs but is it real? Have those photos been altered? I'm asking because it seems like I knit and knit and knit and there is nothing to show for it! I think I'm almost to the point where I join the sleeves. (Oh yeah. The sleeves. Note to self: knit the sleeves.) Thank goodness it's not getting cold here anytime soon.
Up next we have the Entrelac Scarf.
I am loving the way this scarf looks with all of the colors. I could probably finish this pretty quickly if I worked on it exclusively. Ha ha! Exclusively. That's funny. So yeah, I'm glad this is a cool weather item, too.
And let me knock the dust off of Butterfly.
This project has gone nowhere lately. But I still want to finish it! I won't give up on it! I promise you'll see more progress on this very soon. I really want to start the lace of the body!
I did manage to weave in the ends on the Bolero but I still need to block it. That involves finding a space in this house to pull out my blocking board. Easier said than done these days. Wish me luck.
Posted by allison at 10:56 PM | Comments (5)
